As much as I’m looking forward to this interview, almost every part of the trailer makes me uncomfortable. Lil Wayne’s delivery is so serious/dramatic that it makes my skin crawl. Sure, it seems like he’s going to talk about some heavy stuff (maybe) but the way he goes about it is completely unnerving. Though I’m excited for the interview, there’s a certain amount of anxiety that goes along with it.

Robert Harrison’s pop instincts are every bit as on target with Future Clouds and Radar as they were with his previous band Cotton Mather. Cotton Mather produced one of the ‘90s most perfect pure pop albums in 1997’s Kon Tiki, channelling mid-period Beatles far better than Oasis ever dared to. Harrison hasn’t lost his touch. Future Clouds and Radar’s 2008 release, Peoria, is chock full of poppy gems and hook-filled melodies. Here are three songs from this latest album as well as the new video for “The Epcot View”.

John Forté is out of prison now and getting busy, writing a bi-weekly column for The Daily Beast and making new music. First up is a cover version of Kanye West’s “Homecoming” with PopMatters perennial favorite Talib Kweli.

Dan Raper said of Fujiya & Miyagi’s Transparent Things (2007), “you get the feeling Fujiya & Miyagi would be appealing no matter what genre they chose to write in, but they’ve chosen what has been called ‘whisper-electro’, or what you could also call electro-twee.” Here’s the latest single, “Sore Thumb”, from their most recent album, Lightbulbs.

Swedish popsters Don’t Be a Stranger formed back in 2002, but 2009 has shaped up to be their year. They’ll be featured in the February 1st episode of The United States of Tara on Showtime and their new record, Don’t Be a Stranger (Cheap Lullaby), hits US shores in April. They’ll be touring throughout the US during Spring as well. Here’s the first track off Don’t Be a Stranger.